Demotivation and L2 Motivational Self of Korean College...

29

English Teaching, Vol. 70, No. 1, Spring 2015

DOI: 10.15858/engtea.70.1.201503.29

Demotivation and L2 Motivational Self of

Korean College Students*

Shinhye Kim

(Keimyung University)

Kim, Shinhye. (2015). Demotivation and L2 motivational self of Korean college

students. English Teaching, 70(1), 29-55.

Recent L2 motivation research has paid attention to the dynamic nature of motivation

and to the process of motivational changes in L2 learning. While studies have mostly

focused on the factors positively influencing L2 motivation, relatively little research

has been conducted on the factors that influence learner demotivation. In this light, the

study examined the factors affecting Korean college students’ demotivation and their

reaction to demotivation by drawing on the notions of ideal L2 self and ought-to L2

self in Dörnyei (2005, 2009). Based on interviews with twenty-nine Korean college

students, three factors were identified as demotivating factors: lack of meaningful

purpose, lack of improvement and success experiences, and lack of self-determination.

It was noted that the conflict between the students’ desire to use English for

communication and the immediate need to gain good scores on standardized tests was

the main source of learner demotivation. However, the students with a strong ideal L2

self were more successful in setting personalized goals and participating in personally

meaningful activities when demotivating factors were present. The findings indicate

the importance of learners’ ability to visualize their ideal L2 self in overcoming

demotivation and remotivating themselves.

Key Words: demotivation, ideal L2 self, ought-to L2 self, interviews

1. INTRODUCTION

Learner motivation has been an important topic of second language research since

Gardner and Lambert’s (1972) socio-educational theory of motivation. Many empirical

studies have been conducted to support or refute the notions of integrative and instrumental

orientation of motivation. One of the main criticisms of the socio-educational model is its

* This study was supported by Dongil Culture Foundation (2014-2015).

30 Shinhye Kim

little relevance to contexts where English is not used or studied for communication. Hence,

subsequent research has focused on various motivational orientations in different learning

contexts and their influence on learners’ motivational behaviors. Recent motivation

research has considered the psychological concept of self or identity directly related to

learning motivation and examined its relationship with motivational behaviors (Cizér &

Magid, 2014). Among those, Dörnyei’s (2005, 2009) L2 Motivational Self System theory

provides a useful theoretical tool to investigate the relationship between the learners’ self-

concept and their L2 motivation. The basic idea of the L2 Motivational Self System is that

learners’ drive to reduce the perceived discrepancy between their ought-to L2 self and their

ideal L2 self provides the necessary motivation for language learning.

While investigating the factors that influence learner motivation is crucial in

understanding contextual differences in second language learning, it is equally important to

uncover what factors influence learner demotivation especially in the context where high-

stakes exams have a great washback effect on the school curricula and classroom content.

Previous studies on demotivation focused on discovering demotivating factors and their

impact on different proficiency groups (Falout, Elwood, & Hood, 2009; Falout &

Maruyama, 2004). Accordingly, these studies were mostly carried out within quantitative

approaches using a questionnaire (Falout et al., 2009; Falout & Maruyama, 2004; Sakai &

Kikuchi, 2009), with the exception of few studies (Kim & Lee, 2012; Lee & Kim 2013;

Trang & Baldauf, 2007). It is not surprising that teacher-related factors were reported as

one of the strongest demotivators in these studies as they included elementary (Kim, 2011;

Kim & Seo, 2012) or secondary school students (Hasegawa, 2004; Sakai & Kikuchi, 2009)

in EFL contexts which were often characterized by exam-oriented and grammar-focused

instruction. While recognizing the importance of the teacher-related factors in learner

demotivation, the present study pays attention to college level English learners who may

have more options to choose the content or method of learning English and thus may be

under less direct influence of teacher-related factors. It was also noted that the question of

how students cope with demotivating factors has not been properly addressed in previous

research. In this regard, the study focuses on describing the factors contributing to college

students’ demotivation and their reaction to demotivation by referring to the L2

Motivational Self System as a theoretical framework. For the purpose of the study, the

following questions will be addressed.

1. What are the factors that affect Korean college students’ demotivation in English?

2. How are the students’ reactions to demotivation related to their ideal L2 self and

ought-to L2 self?

Demotivation and L2 Motivational Self of Korean College Students 31

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1. L2 Motivational Self System

Drawing on Higgins’ (1987) self-discrepancy theory in psychology, Dörnyei (2005,

2009) proposed the concept of possible selves and that the discrepancy between possible

selves generates learner motivation. Dörnyei’s L2 Motivational Self System consists of

three components: the ideal L2 self, the ought-to self, and L2 learning experience. The

ideal L2 self refers to one’s ideal image of self and it reflects the learner’s aspirations,

hopes and wishes of what he or she would like to become when the necessary language

competence in the L2 is acquired. The ought-to L2 self, on the other hand, concerns one’s

obligations, responsibilities, and expectations, in order to avoid possible negative outcomes,

is hence driven by preventional motivation in Higgins’ terms. L2 learning experience refers

to the situation-specific motivational component which affects one’s ideal self and ought-to

self. That is, the ideal L2 self is related to the hoped-for self in the future while the ought-to

self is related to the here-and-now self.

The core idea of the L2 Motivational Self System is that learners’ drive to reduce the

perceived discrepancy between their current self and their hoped-for self provides the

necessary motivation for language learning. When learners perceive their ideal L2 self

achievable, and that the discrepancy between their current self and hoped-for self can be

reduced, they are more likely to participate in motivational behaviors. Studies have shown

that the ideal L2 self is a strong determinant factor in motivated behaviors (e.g., Cizér &

Lukács, 2010; Kim & Kim, 2014; Papi & Teimuri, 2014; Ryan 2009; Taguchi, Magid, &

Papi, 2009) but the ought-to self has significantly less impact on learners’ motivated

behaviors than the ideal self (e.g., Kim & Kim, 2014; Taguchi et al., 2009). Accordingly, it

can be postulated that demotivation occurs when learners do not have a clear ideal L2 self

and cannot relate it to their current L2 learning.

2.2. Studies on Learner Demotivation

Earlier studies on demotivation were conducted in the field of instructional

communication. Gorham and Christophel (1992) cataloged what learners perceived as

causes of their demotivation in a variety of academic subjects in university classrooms.

They identified teacher-related factors as the most salient demotivator. In a subsequent

study, Christophel and Gorham (1995) identified antecedent conditions that learners bring

into the classroom as demotivating factors. They claimed that learners’ self-concept and

attitude toward the subject and learning environment can negatively influence motivation.

In the second language field, Dörnyei (1998) suggested nine factors that may contribute to

32 Shinhye Kim

learner demotivation based on his study with fifty secondary school students in Hungary

who were studying English or German as a foreign language.

• Teachers’ personalities, commitments, competence, teaching methods

• Inadequate school facilities (large class sizes, unsuitable level of classes or frequent

change of teachers)

• Reduced self-confidence due to their experience of failure or lack of success

• Negative attitude toward the foreign language studied

• Compulsory nature of the foreign language study

• Interference of another foreign language that pupils are studying

• Negative attitude toward the community of the foreign language spoken

• Negative attitudes of group members

• Course books used in class

Research on learner demotivation used these categories to investigate demotivating

factors in different contexts. Many studies have been carried out with Japanese secondary

school students in which high-stakes testing may exacerbate motivational problems.

Hasegawa (2004) studied Japanese English language learners’ experiences with English

learning and demotivation with 125 junior high school students and 98 senior high school

students. He found that inappropriate teacher behaviors may exert a strong impact on

student demotivation. Teachers’ personalities, commitments, competence, and teaching

methods were frequently observed as demotivating factors highlighting the importance of

teacher role in the EFL context. A similar result was found by Trang and Baldauf (2007),

who conducted a study with 100 Vietnamese college students. Based on students’ essays on

demotivation experiences in learning English, they concluded that teacher-related factors,

especially teaching methods, were the main source of demotivation accounting for 38% of

the total number of external demotivators. They also claimed that internal factors such as

an awareness of the importance of English, personal reasons, self- improvement, and self-

determination more significantly contributed to students’ overcoming demotivation than

external factors such as positive changes in teacher behavior, teaching method, learning

conditions, and external encouragement.

Studies also examined the relationship between learner demotivation and proficiency

levels. In their study with 656 Japanese high school students, Sakai and Kikuchi (2009)

extracted five factors that were relevant to learner demotivation: learning contents and

materials, teachers’ competence and teaching styles, inadequate school facilities, lack of

motivation, and test scores. They found a significant difference between high and low

motivation groups in terms of learning contents and materials, lack of intrinsic motivation,

and test scores. Falout et al. (2009) conducted a study with 900 college students in Tokyo


and found that the grammar translation-based English class was the main demotivation

factor. They also observed that self-denigration associated with learners’ past failure

experiences and the resulting lack of confidence was a strong demotivating factor. It was

also noted that learners with different proficiency levels showed different reactions to

demotivation. The higher the proficiency, the better the learners were able to find things

that they enjoy doing with the L2, while the lower proficiency group learners tended to

seek help from others. The different demotivating factors for different proficiency groups

were also observed in Falout and Maruyama’s study (2004). They found that higher

proficiency learners were more apt to attribute demotivation to external factors, especially

teachers, while lower proficiency learners were more apt to attribute their demotivation to

internal factors, particularly disappointment in their performance.

Studies conducted in the Korean context have generally agreed that teacher-related

factors were a strong demotivator (Kim, 2009; Kim & Seo, 2012) due to the nature of

exam-focused study in the EFL context. It was also observed that students’ motivation

tended to decrease in the school years from elementary to high school. Kim (2011)

reported that elementary school students tended to lose their motivation as they moved up

through the school years. While these studies were conducted with elementary and

secondary school students, fewer studies have been carried out with college level students.

By analyzing students’ essays on learning experience, Kim and Lee (2013) found that

scores, testing, and competitive motivation functioned as both motivating and demotivating

factors. While Kim and Lee included relatively advanced level learners who were majoring

in English, Lee and Kim (2014) studied low level students. They reported that teacher-

related factors (e.g., teachers’ praise and encouragement, teaching methods) consistently

played a key role in students’ motivation and demotivation. Their negative attitude toward

English that they formed over the school years was another factor that had a strong impact

on learner demotivation.

As described above, studies on learner demotivation have sought to identify factors

attributing to learner demotivation across different learning contexts, and the teacher-

related factor was reported as a strong demotivating factor. As the participants in previous

research were mostly elementary or secondary school learners, teacher-related factors were

found to be the primary source of demotivation. As the studies with college students also

asked about their past English learning experience, their demotivation factors were mostly

related to classroom learning experience in primary or secondary school. It was also noted

that most studies used a questionnaire and focused on quantifying the results except for

few studies (Kim & Lee, 2013; Lee & Kim, 2014; Trang & Baldauf, 2007). Considering

this gap in previous research, this study attempts to describe the process of how and why

Korean college students become demotivated, and how this process is related to their self

by adopting a qualitative approach.

34 Shinhye Kim

3. METHOD

3.1. The Research Context

The study was conducted at a university in a metropolitan city in Korea. With a

considerable emphasis on English, an official score on the standardized Test of English for

International Communication (TOEIC, hereafter) is one of the graduation requirements at

most universities in Korea. As such, the test score is used in deciding students’

participation in university-supported programs (e.g., International Buddy program, Culture

Abroad program, and Study Abroad program), and it is also a key factor for scholarship

eligibility at the university where the study was conducted. Despite the necessity of the

TOEIC score for university programs and for job applications, students struggle to gain the

required score, especially those whose major is not directly related to English. In order to

improve their test scores, some students choose to enroll in the intensive TOEIC Camp

program offered by the university during the breaks. This program requires students to

attend more than 90% of the total class hours and to stay at the dormitory for three weeks.

Students also have to take a pre- and post-program test to evaluate their progress. While the

university provides the program for the standard test, it also encourages students to

participate in the programs for communicative competence. In addition to the mandatory

conversation class required for all freshmen, the university has encouraged all the

departments to offer English-medium classes. The programs in the English-only dormitory

and at the International Lounge offer a chance for students to practice English in informal

settings.

3.2. The Participants

The participants in the study were recruited from the intensive TOEIC Camp program

held at the university in the summer of 2014. It was a three-week long intensive program

which specifically focused on preparation for the TOEIC. Classes were divided by

different target scores (from 500-900 on the TOEIC) and each class had about 25-30

students. The Camp program was chosen for recruiting participants because of the

accessibility to a wide variety of students in terms of majors, ages, sex, English study

experiences, and goals for studying English. If students are simply not interested in English,

and have not had much learning experience in English, they cannot talk about their

motivational changes. Thus, by recruiting the participants from this program, it was aimed

to have learners with varying degrees of motivation and different experiences of

motivational fluctuations in learning English.

With the permission of the program director, the researcher visited eight classrooms


toward the end of the Camp program and explained the purpose of the study to ask for

volunteers to sign up for participation. The sign-up sheets were collected the following day

and a total of twenty five students volunteered to participate. Four more students were

recruited from a class that the researcher had taught in the previous semester. A total of

twenty nine students (10 male, 19 female) participated in the study. Although they were not

specifically identified as demotivated learners at the time of the study, they all said that

they had the experience of losing interest in English and they were willing to talking about

their demotivation experiences.

All the participants started learning English from elementary school as part of the

regular school curriculum. Six of them participated in a study abroad program and the rest

of them have never been abroad or only traveled to non-English-speaking countries for a

short time. The participants’ most recent TOEIC scores ranged from 350-950 (mean score:

666) and their average age was 23.6 (see Appendix A for Participants’ Profiles). The

participants’ majors varied but there were slightly more English-related majors. Regardless

of the their majors, all the participants acknowledged that English is necessary to gain

entry to their desired career but only few expressed the possibility of actually using English

for their work.

3.3. Data Collection

Interviews were conducted for the period of four weeks in July and August 2014 after

the Camp program was finished. Twenty-one interviews were conducted with individual

students and four interviews with a pair of students who felt more comfortable coming

with their friend. When two students were participating in the interview together, the same

questions were addressed to both students allowing them to add or make comments on

each other’s responses. All interviews were conducted in the researcher’s office. The

average time taken for an interview was about an hour (ranging from 50 min to 90 min). It

was a semi-constructed interview and a list of questions was prepared as a guideline. The

participants were invited to freely talk about anything relevant to their English learning

experience. The interview questions include the following.

• When did you start learning English? Did you enjoy learning it?

• How did you study English before you came to college?

• What have you tried to improve your English at college?

• What are the difficulties in studying English?

• Have you lost interest in English? When and why?

• What is your goal of learning English?

• What would be your ideal image of yourself in the future?

36 Shinhye Kim

All interviews were conducted in Korean and they were recorded for analysis. The

recordings were transcribed by a research assistant and checked for accuracy by the

researcher.

3.4. Data Analysis

The data were analyzed following the procedure suggested in Grounded Theory (Strauss

& Corbin, 1990) to find emerging patterns in the data. Following the recommendations of

this theory, the researcher tried to read the data without a priori categories suggested in

previous research. At the initial reading of the transcripts, the parts that were relevant to

learner demotivation and L2 self-images were segmented for analysis. The segments were

again divided into units that denoted the same meaning thread. The minimum coding unit

was a sentence but it was extended to more than a sentence when multiple sentences

conveyed the same meaning. In order to analyze the data in a consistent and systematic

manner, the analysis was conducted with a qualitative data analysis software program

Nvivo (version 10).

In accordance with the open coding procedure, the seemingly important concept was

coded under nodes. At this stage, those important concepts were labeled close to the

verbatim to avoid vagueness of abstract categories. Among the codes, “lack of self-

determination” (46 references), “lack of improvement” (43 references), “difficulty in

speaking English” (78 references), “studying for the test” (51 references) appeared most

frequently in the data. After this open coding process, the nodes were grouped, renamed, or

deleted to generate a smaller number of thematically related categories. For example,

“unsatisfactory test scores”, and “difficulty with grammar” were grouped under a broader

category of “lack of improvement”. Later this category was revised as “lack of

improvement and success experience” to include categories such as “unsuccessful

communication effort”, “denied opportunities”. At the next axial coding stage, the

relationships among the subcategories were explored to find a main storyline based on core

categories. According to Saldana (2009), categories found through axial coding can be

integrated into a narrative centered on a core category. The present study found the

conflicts between learners’ desire to improve speaking and their obligation to study for the

test as a core category to weave the other categories together into a story. A story was

constructed to illustrate why the students became demotivated in their L2 learning process

by using this core category as an axis (for the story, see Appendix B).

After the preliminary data analysis, peer debriefing was conducted with a colleague

whose area of interest includes L2 learning motivation to validate the interpretation of the

data. He read four sample transcripts (Student 1, 5, 13, 21, 23) and checked if the codes

and categories were matched with the data. Disputable codes and categories were marked


for recoding. Through this process, the codes were checked and verified. The exact inter-

coder reliability was not calculated because only the researcher used the qualitative

analysis software program. As only a small portion of the data was used for debriefing,

calculating the inter-coder reliability based on a small set of data could be misleading. A

detailed description of the findings is described below based on the categories found in the

analysis.

4. FINDINGS

4.1. Factors Attributing to Learner Demotivation

Through the content analysis of the students’ interview data, three general themes were

found to contribute to learners’ demotivation. These factors concerned the lack of

meaningful purpose, the lack of improvement and success experiences, and the lack of

self-determination. While the first two factors are related to the external educational

context, the last factor is more internal to learners’ perceptions of themselves. They do not

exactly correspond to the factors listed in Dörnyei (1998), but tend to overlap with factors

such as the compulsory nature of foreign language study and reduced confidence due to

experiences of failure and lack of success. In the following section, each theme will be

elaborated with sub-themes and excerpts from the data.

4.1.1. Lack of meaningful purpose

As shown in previous studies (Christophel & Gorham, 1995; Falout & Maruyama,

2004), the participants’ past experience of studying English exerted an influence on their

attitude toward English. Many participants recalled that they simply memorized the

grammar rules without understanding them and practiced test-taking skills for the test. The

participants described their studying experience as “just memorizing the whole book

without really understanding the meaning” (Student 15) or “just learning test-taking

strategies but no improvement in speaking (Student 5). They found their English study

before college solely focused on obtaining good scores on the college entrance

examination and yet they found their outcome rather disappointing.

Despite the students’ disappointment with their performance in the test results, they were

under continued pressure to study English for the test in their college years. The students

had to study English again to gain an official score on the TOEIC. This required test score

was described as “a stumbling block” (Student 22) because without it, the students could

not participate in university-supported programs or have a chance to apply for a job.

38 Shinhye Kim

Students 2 described her studying English as a way to earn a certificate, not to improve her

“real English skills.”

Excerpt 1

There might be students who just don’t like learning a foreign language. I’ve never seen

anyone who actually uses English once they got a job in the company. I think the TOEIC

score is just one of the qualifications, just like other certificates that you have to get to

get a job. I’ve never felt that my English has improved because of the TOEIC study and

I don’t think it is effective in improving real English skills. (Student 2, Interview on

August 11, 2014)

As shown in Excerpt 1, the participant found the compulsory nature of study

meaningless because she did not feel she had improved her English. Traditionally, studying

English to obtain a good score or a good job is considered an instrumental motivation,

which is particularly important in the EFL context. However, Excerpt 1 shows that

continued study for the instrumental purpose without a sense of improvement could only

decrease students’ motivation in English. Student 4 mentioned that his feelings of “always

studying for the test” decreased his motivation to keep engaging in learning activities.

Moreover, he felt torn between studying for the TOEIC and studying “real English” that he

wished to do. He expressed his conflicted feelings as follows.

Excerpt 2

I don’t think TOEIC has anything to do with English, a real English ability. I only need it

to submit my application to companies. They want to see my score. My TOEIC score is

like a yardstick of my college life. I don’t think companies even consider my TOEIC

score as my real English ability. They just use it to see how hard I have worked at

college. If my score is low, they might ask me ‘what did you do when everybody else

worked hard?’. . . I don’t think the score has anything to do with the real English ability.

So I kind of want to do something different, a real English. (Student 4, Interview on July

30, 2014)

He emphasized that the TOEIC score had nothing to do with his real English ability, but

he would need it as a “yardstick” of his college life. This feeling of engaging in a test-

oriented study for a prolonged period of time, and the subsequent conflicts created between

what they have to study and what they wish to study were the most salient features

attributed to learner demotivation. Unlike the previous studies that reported the teacher-

related factor was a main demotivating factor, it was observed that the test-related pressure

and the students’ lack of meaningful purpose were strong demotivating factors in the


present study. These findings are comparable to what was found in previous research. For

example, compulsory nature of study (Dörnyei, 2001), course content (Sakai & Kikuchi,

2009), and scores and testing (Kim & Seo, 2012) were found to be important demotivating

factors in the EFL context. The result suggests that the external pressure (e.g., test scores,

English requirements) can initially function as a motivator to help students engage in

learning activities, but it could decrease students’ motivation when they have to study

English without feeling they are gaining real English abilities.

4.1.2. Lack of improvement and success experiences

The lack of meaningful purpose in their study seemed to be aggravated when the

participants’ test scores did not demonstrate their effort and time invested in English had

been useful. The lack of improvement in test scores and a lack of success experiences in

communication was another significant factor contributing to decreased motivation. The

following excerpts showed the participants’ dissatisfaction with their grammatical

knowledge and with their performance on the tests.

Excerpt 3

I worked hard but I still had problem figuring out which is a subject, which is a verb. My

vocabulary was weak and there were a lot of words that I didn’t know. I spent all day

just studying English. But the score was not good at all for what I did. (Student 4,

Interview on July 31, 2014)

Excerpt 4

I really did my best. I worked hard every day repeating the same books again and again.

But my score didn’t improve at all on the test. I didn’t feel like studying it again for a

while. (Student 10, Interview on July 27, 2014)

As mentioned in excerpts above, the participants in the study commonly said they

“didn’t feel like studying” English when they did not make any progress on test scores.

Falout et al. (2009) found that low proficiency students tended to seek more external help

than high proficiency students. However, the students in the present study, regardless of

their proficiency levels, did not actively seek for help but tended to temporarily withdraw

from studying. When asked what they do when they do not understand or have difficulty in

English, they would look things up on the online dictionary or the grammar Q & A section

but rarely asked for help from experts. The other characteristic of the students’ learning

style was found in their avoidance of group study. A majority of students stated that they

would rather study alone than in a group because they found the group study is “a waste of

40 Shinhye Kim

time” (Student 1), “not everybody is contributing” (Student 6). Such a solitary learning

style may have developed over the course of studying English for test preparation, which

may limit their strategy use and does not lead to improvement in English.

In addition to the students’ disappointment with their test scores, their lack of success

experience in communication was another factor in reducing their motivation. Most

students stated that they found speaking most challenging because they had to think a lot

before they spoke and still could not freely express themselves. Student 11, for example,

came to meet a French exchange student through the International Buddy program but her

communication effort was not successful.

Excerpt 5

I always thought the Buddy program was cool. So I applied for the program and came to

meet this student from France. He was a man, and I didn’t feel very comfortable talking

to him. I should have helped him but didn’t try very hard. I should have been more

responsible but I didn’t have confidence in my speaking. Whenever I didn’t understand

him and asked him to repeat, I felt sorry. When I asked, he spoke slowly but I couldn’t

keep asking him to repeat. So I kind of stopped speaking to him. (Student 11, Interview

on July 27, 2014)

Despite her initial excitement, Student 11 became less confident in her communication

ability and finally stopped trying to communicate with her buddy. She described this

experience as a communication failure and became less motivated in using English. The

participants attributed their lack of confidence in speaking to the lack of communication

opportunities. For example, Student 28 described his lack of speaking experience as

follows.

Excerpt 6

Interviewer: Do you have any foreign friends that you speak English to?

Student 28: No, I don’t have any friends.

Interviewer: Have you tried to practice speaking?

Student 28: I went to the International Lounge. I kind of waited there for someone to talk

to me. But no one talked to me. It’s not like someone helping me find a

conversation partner or anything. I have to go and talk to someone but I just

couldn’t.

Interviewer: So you don’t really have chances to speak English at the university?

Student 28: A lot less than I expected. I thought I would have more chances to speak

English at the university but it’s not like that.

Interviewer: Have you thought about taking a course taught in English?


Student 28: Well, I don’t think I can understand the class. I’m afraid I might get a poor

grade in that kind of class. (Interview on August 5, 2014)

As an attempt to practice speaking, Student 28 went to the English-only Zone but his

initiation did not result in a successful communication experience because no one spoke to

him. He was not willing to take courses taught in English because of his fear of receiving a

poor grade. The excerpt shows the difficulty that students in the EFL setting may face even

when they have desire to practice speaking skills. Most of the participants in the study did

not have much communication experience except in English conversation classes. Such

limited chances for successful communication experiences may potentially reduce the

students’ motivation to continue to make efforts in English. In sum, the students’

dissatisfaction with insufficient improvement in test scores and with their lack of

communication ability was found to have a significant impact on the students’

demotivation.

4.1.3. Lack of self-determination

Falout et al. (2009) indicated that less proficient students tended to attribute their

demotivation to internal factors (self-related factors) while more proficient students to

external factors (e.g., teacher, course content). Without making a reference to the students’

language proficiency, the participants in the study tended to attribute their lack of success

to the internal factors. They blamed their lack of self-determination for their lack of success

and motivation. They described themselves as lazy, lacking strong will, and not disciplined

in studying. The following excepts illustrate how students perceive themselves in relation

to English study.

Excerpt 7

I need an optimal level of enforcement. I don’t show good progress in English because I

don’t have determination. If I had been more determined, I could be in a different place

now. If I had studied harder in my middle and high school days, I could have gone to a

better university. Even now, I don’t seem to have a strong will to make things happen.

It’s all because of my lack of determination. (Student 17, Interview on August 5, 2014)

Excerpt 8

Interviewer: Have you been interested in English at the university?

Student 24: I haven’t been interested in English but I had to study. I study English just

because I have to.

Interviewer: No other reason to study English?

42 Shinhye Kim

Student 24: No. Because I’m a Business major, I don’t feel that I would need English

much. Last year, I started going to a private institute to study the TOEFL but I quit

studying in three days. I coulnd’t do it. I guess I’m just not good at studying.

(Interview on July 30, 2014)

Student 17 and Student 24 both described themselves as lacking determination to study

English, and they tended to make self-denigrating comments on their lack of determination

and its resulting outcome. Feeling less confident in regulating plans and actions to study

English, the participants mentioned they need to be forced. This feeling of a lack of

determination was observed in students’ comments on time management. They frequently

mentioned the difficulty in managing their time between their academic studies and

English. It can be postulated that the students’ lack of time management combined with

their sense of lack of determination negatively influence learner motivation.

In summary, the prolonged studying for the test and the feeling of meaninglessness was

found to be a strong demotivator in the students’ learning experiences. In addition, little or

no improvement on test scores and lack of successful communication experience was also

attributed to their demotivation. The students’ unsuccessful experiences are associated with

their lack of speaking abilities due to limited chances to use English for communication

purposes. Additionally, the student’s perceived lack of self-determination was found to be

another demotivating factor, reducing the students’ confidence in themselves. That is, the

students found themselves in a cyclic pattern of unsatisfactory test scores, lack of

successful communication experience, reduced confidence, and as a result, decreased

motivation.

4.2. L2 Motivational Self and Reaction to Demotivation

In addition to elucidating the learners’ demotivating experience in the EFL setting, the

study explored relationship between the students’ perception of selves and their reaction to

motivation. While previous studies were concerned with identifying demotivating factors

according to learner proficiency levels (Falout & Maruyama, 2004; Falout et al., 2009),

little attention was paid to what learners do to cope with their demotivation. In this regards,

the study examined the participants’ reaction to demotivation, and its relationship with

ideal L2 self and ought-to L2 self. The images expressed in sentences “I wish… in the

future”, I’d like to... in the future” were coded as ideal L2 self. The phrases or sentences

containing expressions of obligation relevant to the current situation (“I should…” or “I

must…”) were coded as ought-to L2 self. Through this coding process, the participants

were grouped into three types according to the explicitness of the ideal L2 self and the

ought-to L2 self.


• Group 1: Students who perceived themselves as test-takers, who studied English

mainly for test purposes and did not indicate a clear idea of themselves using English

in the future. They showed a strong sense of ought-to L2 self but did not clearly

describe their ideal L2 self.

• Group 2: Students whose primary goal was to gain good test scores and yet they had a

desire to use English for communication purposes. Though they had a desire to speak

fluently and to travel abroad using English, their ideal L2 self was not very explicit

and they found little use of English in the future.

• Group 3: Students whose primary goal was not focused on test scores. They explicitly

described their ideal L2 self, and their goal of studying English was closely related to

their ideal L2 self.

Each group displayed a different pattern in reaction to demotivation and the characteristics

of each group will be described in the following section.

4.2.1. Making minimum efforts

The first group of participants had strong images of themselves as test-takers, who

mainly studied English for test purposes, and they did not visualize themselves using

English in their life. The participants in this group (Student 1, 10, 11, 15, 18, 23) lacked a

self-established goal for studying English and were mostly driven to study English to avoid

negative outcomes they might face (e.g., failure to meet requirements, being denied access

to job opportunities). English was not required in their immediate context and there was

little expectation of using English for their academic or professional work. Student 23

described her goals as follows.

Excerpt 9

Student 23: If I hadn’t participated in the English Camp program this summer, I would

have done a statistics class organized in our department. I need to get a certificate

in statistics to get a job and that class could have been very helpful. But I couldn’t

do it because of this Camp program.

Interviewer: Why did you decide to participate in the Camp program then?

Student 23: Because I need to get a good score on the TOEIC. I just want to get it done

so that I can concentrate on other studies.

Interviewer: Do you think you would need English in your job?

Student 23: No, I don’t think so. I just need the score to apply for a job. I don’t think I

would need English in my job. (Interview on August 1, 2014)

44 Shinhye Kim

Student 23 expressed her feeling of obligation to participate in the Camp program to

fulfill the English requirement. As she felt the current study was needed only to apply for a

job, she just wanted to “get it done” so that she could be free from the English obligation. It

shows that studying for the TOEIC could function as an initial motivator but that it may not

help sustain the students’ motivation for an extended period. As a result, the students

tended to avoid English or temporarily withdrew from studying instead of trying an

alternative activity or seeking external help. This reduced effort often led to unsatisfactory

outcomes, which, in turn, to demotivation in learning English. Although the students did

not completely give up studying English, they only maintained a minimum level of

motivation to fulfill their ought-to L2 self.

4.2.2. Establishing vague goals

A majority of the participants appeared to belong to this group (Student 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9,

12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 19, 20, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29). The students in this group differed

from the first group in their awareness of the importance of English and in their level of

effort in English. They acknowledged the importance of English as a tool to achieve their

goals (e.g., jobs, promotions, global needs). They were under the pressure to perform well

on the test, but they also envisioned themselves as English users in the future. They

mentioned “traveling around” and “speaking fluently” as their ideal future self-image. The

following excepts illustrate the student’s image of their ideal L2 self.

Excerpt 10

Interviewer: Is speaking English important to you?

Student 5: Not really. But I kind of want to be able to speak well.

Interviewer: Why do you want to speak well?

Student 5: It’s just my wish. I don’t need to speak English for my job but I kind of want to.

Interviewer: Why do you want to speak English well?

Student 5: It’s cool to speak English. If I speak English, other people might think of me

more professional.

Interviewer: You mean English sounds more professional?

Student 5: Yes. If I use English words here and there, I may sound more professional and

other people will see me differently.

Interviewer: Do you want to work or live in a foreign country?

Student 5: Not really.

Interviewer: How well do you want to speak English?

Student 5: Just enough to have a daily conversation with native speakers. (Interview on

August 5, 2014)


Excerpt 11

I have a friend who’s participating in a working holiday program in Australia. I think it’s

great. I kind of want to be like her. I don’t have a clear goal but I wish I could speak

English freely with foreigners. English is mostly for travel. I’ve never thought about

doing any kind of work in English. I wish I could speak enough English to do a business

trip. I don’t want English to be an obstacle when I travel. (Student 18, Interview on July

29, 2014)

As shown in Excerpt 10, Student 5 expressed his interested in speaking well enough to

have daily conversation with native speakers but his wish was not directly related to what

he wanted to do for his career. He wanted to sound “cool” and “professional” by speaking

English and wished to be viewed “differently” by other people. However, such wish was

not realized in his current endeavors studying English. In this regard, his ideal L2 self was

rather vague, not strong enough to carry out tangible plans and actions. A similar image

was illustrated by Student 18. She envied her friend’s English ability and wished to be able

to speak fluently. Though the image of an international traveler was most frequently

mentioned as the participant’s ideal L2 self, this self-image was not necessarily related to

their desired career or translated into goal-directed behaviors. This rather vague ideal L2

self can be best captured in Student 20’s expression of “insurance”.

Excerpt 12

Interviewer: You’ve been taking a lot of English courses. Any particular reason to take

those courses?

Student 20: I don’t think much about my goal. I just believe that I could improve my

English if I keep doing something.

Interviewer: You’ve been participating in many programs.

Student 20: Yes, but I don't have a particular goal. I don’t know what to do with English.

I think of it as “insurance.” English might give me an opportunity in the future.

Interviewer: What would be an ideal opportunity for you?

Student 20: Well, right now, it’s an exchange program. I’d like to participate in the

exchange program before I graduate.

Interviewer: Do you think English will give you more opportunities when you graduate?

Student 20: Well, I might be able to choose from more options. But I’m not sure. There

are too many people who are good at English. I’m not sure how good I should be or

if it’s even possible to be good at English. (Interview on August 6, 2014)

Student 20 likened studying English to having insurance implying that she was not sure

if she would ever need it but it would be nice to have it to feel secure. She had been

46 Shinhye Kim

working hard to improve her English, but she did not have a particular vision but just

hoped that she would have more options. This shows that students’ active participation in

learning activities are not always goal-directed. This future self of the students can be

termed as ‘idyllic’ rather than ideal in the sense that the they have an almost utopian view

of themselves as English users without a well-defined need for learning English (Lyons,

2014). This tendency may be related to ‘a widespread utilitarian belief among Korea L2

learners that English is important for career development’ (Yang & Kim, 2011, p. 147).

Although the desire to travel overseas and speak English for communication have usually

been identified as ideal L2 self-related items in studies on L2 motivational self, these

findings indicate the such hopes or desires can be only wishful thinking, not necessarily

resulting in a specific ideal L2 self or goal-directed behaviors.

4.2.3. Seeking opportunities

A small number of students were grouped together as they expressed a clear ideal self-

image and the relatedness of their current study with the future self. Their ideal L2 self was

described as “a diplomat” (Student 3), “a travel agent” (Student 8), and “a sport manager”

(Student 21) who will have to use English to perform their daily tasks. Unlike the other

groups of students, they showed more goal-directed behaviors in learning English. Student

3 described her L2 ideal self as follows.

Excerpt 13

Student 3: I would imagine myself at the final interview to complete the program at the

Foreign Diplomacy Academy. I would be able to answer the questions like what I

think of current international issues, or what I think of Korea’s foreign relations

policy on certain issues. I think I’ll be able to answer these big questions

confidently.

Interviewer: What would your ideal image of yourself be in the future?

Student 3: I think I would travel a lot in a business suit with important documents in my

briefcase. I think I would look serious in a business suit. (Interview on August 8,

2014)

As shown above, Student 3, 8, and 21 depicted a vivid image of themselves as

successful L2 learners. They commonly mentioned that they were less motivated to study

English when their test scores were not satisfactory. However, they did not find the test

score to be a determining factor for their success but found it to be an activity they could

enjoy. While acknowledging the fact that they had to study for the test to meet the English

requirement, they compensated for this feeling of obligation by creating opportunities to


enjoy English. Student 8, for example, chose to live in an English-only dormitory when she

was not satisfied with her TOEIC score.

Excerpt 14

I enjoyed living in the English-only dormitory. I didn’t feel that my English improved a

lot but I liked the fact that I could talk with native speakers and get used to speaking

English. There are people who get a better score on the test but a lot of them cannot

speak. But I can speak English. (Student 8, Interview on July 31, 2014)

Her seeking opportunities to speak English prompted her interests and sustained her

motivation in English. She mentioned that she enjoyed the moments when other students

overheard her conversation with foreign friends, which helped her seek more opportunities

to make foreign friends outside the classroom. Such an effort to seek and create

opportunities to speak English was observed in Student 21.

Excerpt 15

These days, I do part-time work at a karaoke bar on weekends. You know, it’s near the

Industrial Zone and we have a lot of foreign workers on weekends at the bar. They tried

to talk to me in Korean but their Korean was not good. So I started to speak English, and

then they talked to me in English. I like talking with them in English. (Student 21,

Interview on August 6, 2014)

Just as Student 21 initiated conversations with foreigners, Student 3 volunteered to work

at the International Lounge as a language assistant. These students tended to engage in

using English outside the classroom. Though they became equally influenced by

demotivating factors, they pursued opportunities to use English to communicate to

remotivate themselves. They could relate their current study with the future self-image by

establishing a personal goal beyond the institutional requirement and participating in

activities meaningful to them.

The findings of this study showed that the students with a strong ought-to L2 self group

regarded themselves mainly as test-takers and were more susceptible to test scores when

they did not have a personalized image of the ideal self. The students with a strong ought-

to L2 self and weak ideal L2 self considered their current self as test-takers and they only

had a vague image of their future self. Though they were seemingly active in participating

in learning activities, their ideal L2 self did not necessarily materialize into practical goals.

The weak ought-to L2 self and strong ideal L2 self groups of students visualized their ideal

L2 self as those who would use English for their professional career. They were resilient in

their response to demotivating factors such as the compulsory study for test scores and a

48 Shinhye Kim

lack of speaking opportunities, and could manage their demotivation better by seeking

opportunities to use English for communication.

5. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

The study attempted to examine the demotivating factors specific to Korean college

students’ learning experiences and to observe learners’ reactions to demotivation. The

analysis of twenty-nine interviews showed that the lack of meaningful purpose of their

studies, a lack of improvement in test scores and a lack of success in communication

experiences had a significant influence on the students’ demotivation. It is noticeable that

these factors are specific to the Korean context in which college students are under

pressure of studying English for test-related purposes. As the standardized English score

plays an important role in the job application process in Korea, a great number of

universities have conformed to such societal demand by making standardized scores a

mandatory requirement. Despite the intention of encouraging students to become more

competent in English and better qualified for jobs, the participants in the study found such

requirement to be an obstacle to their study of English. The students’ feelings that their

studying was not meaningful reflect their beliefs about successful language learning. As

they believed speaking is a crucial indicator of success in English, they did not find their

test-oriented study meaningful. They felt they were at conflict with themselves over the

need to study for the test and their desire to use English for communication purposes. The

conflict was also observed between their ideal self and current self. They want to travel

around communicating freely in English, but in their actual life, they have very limited

opportunities to use English. This conflict of their desires and actual efforts appeared to be

a primary source of demotivation.

However, the participants exhibited different reactions to demotivating factors with

regard to their L2 self-image. The participants with a strong image of ideal L2 self were

less susceptible to demotivation and they were more skillful in utilizing their resources and

participating in goal-directed activities by establishing a personalized goal and applying

self-regulatory strategies. On the other hand, the students with a strong ought-to L2 self

without a personalized goal for learning English were found to be more vulnerable to

demotivating factors. By adapting the model of ideal L2 self and ought-to L2 self proposed

in Kim (2009, p. 148), this relationship between learner demotivation and L2 motivational

self can be illustrated as follows:

As suggested in Figure 1, learners’ adherence to extrinsic motivation and the ought-to L2

self may lead to learner demotivation. This is often observed in EFL contexts in which

learners have to study English under continued external pressure. However, it should be


FIGURE 1

Learner Demotivation and L2 Motivational Self

noted their extrinsically driven motivation can lead to more intrinsic motivation by

internalizing motives or by discovering intrinsic aspects of a task (Deci & Ryan, 1985).

Kim (2013a, b) showed that learners’ concept of the ideal L2 self can play a critical role in

the process of internalizing extrinsic motivation into personally meaningful intrinsic

motivation. It was noticed that Korean college students’ persistent ought-to self as test-

takers functioned as a stimulus initially but it was not effective in maintaining long-term

motivation. On the contrary, the students who identified their ideal L2 self as professional

career-persons in English-speaking communities and perceived that English is a critical

tool to gain access to their imagined communities were actively engaged in goal-directed,

personally meaningful learning activities despite the constraints of the EFL contexts. It is

thus important for learners to be able to visualize their ideal L2 self to maintain their

motivation in L2 learning. However, learners’ ideal L2 self should be anchored in concrete

plans and actions to be useful in second language learning; otherwise, it only serves as a

fantasy. Kanno and Norton (2003) stressed that hopeful wish should be distinguished from

a simple fantasy or desire, in that the former has to accompanied by concrete actions. This

suggests that learners’ ideal L2 self should be realized as feasible goals to function as

motivators. These findings highlight the need to help learners visualize a plausible ideal L2

self-image and make it relevant to their current studies. When students can see the

possibility of reducing the gap between their current and future selves, they are less likely

to be demotivated.

The findings of the study indicate that despite the effectiveness of using standardized

test scores to evaluate learners’ progress, it should not be used to label students as failures

or to demotivate students by devaluing their efforts made in the learning process. Despite

the emphasis on English from the university and institutional programs, the participants did

not find the university setting conducive to improving their English, but instead, found it to

be an obstacle to their desired study. The result resonates with what Ushioda (1998) stated

Increased motivation

Ought-to L2 Self

Social &

Extrinsic

English

requirement

Goal-specificity

Participation in

meaningful

learning activities

Ideal L2 Self

Personal &

Intrinsic

Communicative

competence

Decreased motivation

50 Shinhye Kim

about the negative aspects of the institutionalized learning context. Regardless of the

students’ wishes to improve their speaking ability, the institutional and societal expectation

pressures them to study for the test, and the students’ dissatisfaction with the contents of

the studies continually decreases students’ motivation. Good performance on test and good

communication skills should be recognized as compatible goals without conflicting with

each other. In order to balance the two, learners need to be guided in setting practical goals

and using proper strategies in a given context. Dörnyei (2005) noted that being strategic

can be equated with being motivated. As such, learners need to be assisted in overcoming

demotivation and to remotivate themselves by adopting appropriate strategies.

The study also found that learners’ negative self-evaluation of themselves was another

factor affecting learner demotivation. It was found that the students’ motivation was

reduced when the students blamed their lack of self-determination for not making progress

in English. This lack of confidence led the students to doubt their success in learning

English, as expressed in “I’m not sure how good I should be or if it’s even possible to be

good at English” (Student 20). The students with an unclear image of ideal L2 self were

more likely to be caught in a cyclical pattern of reduced self-confidence, self-blame, and

poor performance because they are unable to control their affective states, as discussed in

Ushioda (1998). They need to be guided to break the vicious circle and to remotivate

themselves by placing blame on external factors without internalizing their failure to

themselves. Hence, it is crucial for learners to have opportunities to experience success so

that they can gain confidence in themselves. Experiencing a sense of success can help

learners visualize their ideal L2 self. Once students feel some success as a result of their

effort and engage in the actual use of English, they can be better at visualizing themselves

successful English users.

Ushioda (2011) stated that “Individual difference research focuses not on differences

between individuals, but on average and aggregates that lump together people who share

certain characteristics” (p. 12). Reflecting her dissatisfaction with the predominantly

quantitative approach, the study attempted to examine learner demotivation from a

qualitative lens. Despite the insights gained on learner demotivation, limitations of the

study need to be considered in future research. Grounded Theory recommends that a

researcher be constantly engaged in data collection and data analysis procedures to reach a

saturation point (Strauss & Corbin, 1990). Data saturation requires more data collection in

tandem with the data analysis process. According to the guideline of Grounded Theory,

approximately thirty participants are needed to reach a saturation point. Although the study

had twenty-nine participants to reach the saturation point, the analysis procedure should

have been more rigorously validated by calculating inter-coder reliability. It should be also

noted that selection of the participants from the English Camp program might have

affected the findings the study. Although the participants in the study experienced


demotivation at some point during their study, they could be more motivated learners than

average university students. Hence their stories of demotivation may not necessarily

represent the characteristics of demotivated learners.

The other weakness of the study lies in its reliance on self-reported interview data.

Though the data were collected from a relatively large number of interviewees, the

interviews were conducted only once with individual learners and the data may lack the

richness and depth that longitudinal data can provide. It is desirable to include other types

of data to triangulate the data sources and to validate the interview content. For example,

learner journals or self-reflection can be included in future studies. Considering the

drawbacks of the self-reported questionnaire, essay or interview data on learner

demotivation, longitudinal studies need to be carried out to observe motivational changes

and learners’ coping strategies in specific situations. Despite the aforementioned

limitations, the study may provide a possible direction for looking at learner motivational

change and its relationship with learners’ self-concept, which has been gaining more

importance in researching individual differences in second language acquisition.

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54 Shinhye Kim

APPENDIX A

Participants’ Profile

Student School

Year Sex Major Age

Study

Abroad Experience

1 4 F English 23 Yes

2 4 F German 23 Yes

3 4 F English 23 Yes

4 4 M Business 27 No

5 4 M Mechanical Engineering 26 No

6 4 F English 25 No

7 4 F Taxation 23 Yes

8 4 F Tourism 23 Yes

9 3 F Business 22 No

10 3 F Food Science & Technology 23 No

11 3 F Food Science & Technology 23 No

12 3 F Fashion Marketing 22 No

13 3 M Public Administration 23 No

14 3 F English Education 22 No

15 3 F European Studies 22 No

16 3 M Journalism 26 No

17 2 M English 24 No


19 2 F Korean Language & Literature 21 No

20 2 F Advertising 21 No

21 2 M Business 24 Yes

22 2 F Police Administration 22 No

23 2 F Statistics 21 No

24 2 M Business 24 No




28 1 M Journalism 21 No



APPENDIX B

A Story Based on the Core Category

Core Category: Conflicts between learners’ desire to speak English and the need to gain a good score

on the test (boldfaced parts indicate categories found at the axial coding stage)

Korean college students in the study were under pressure of proving their English ability through

standardized test scores (e.g., TOEIC), which forced them to continue to engage in test-oriented,

learning activities similar to what they had in high school. Though the students acknowledged the

need of standardized English test scores to gain entry to their desired job, they found it lacking

meaningful purpose since studying for the test did not help them speak better. Together with this

lack of meaningful purpose in studying English, a lack of improvement in test scores and a lack of

successful communication experiences significantly influenced the students’ demotivation. The

students tended to attribute their lack of improvement to their lack of self-determination. Feeling

trapped between their disappointment with their communication competence and fulfilling the

English requirements, they blamed themselves for not having done enough. The students illustrated

their ideal self as those who travel abroad and speak English fluently, and yet they also showed

their conflicting feelings between their ideal future self and current self, which often resulted in

decreased motivation.

Applicable levels: Tertiary

Shinhye Kim

Department of English Education

Keimyung University

1095 Dalgubeol-daero

Daegu 704-701, Korea

Phone: (053) 580-5125

Fax: (053) 580-6025

Email: [email protected]

Received in December 1, 2014

Reviewed in January 15, 2015

Revised version received in February 15, 2015

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